Customer Reviews

End of the Century - The Story of the Ramones

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Well, I just bought Hey, Ho, Let's Go: The Anthology, so I guess the documentary left its mark last night. Put simply, like Festival Express, this is a must see for 1) fans of the Ramones, 2) rock history buffs, 3) fans of rock music, period. There, that should cover most folks who have stumbled on to this review.

Unlike Festival Express, where the movie highlights were the performances, End has plenty of in-concert performances but is most interesting for the extensive and cross-cutting interviews with band members, managers, and people from other bands, most notably, the late Joe Strummer of Clash. Stepping out from those stock bowl haircuts and black uniforms, the Ramones get in End a portrait that celebrates their individuality, their determination and their warts (Joey's inability to forgive, Johnny's often martinet leadership, DeeDee's willingness to abuse his body in every way imaginable -- and I would guess some unimaginable). Along with the music, what comes through so strongly is their love for the group, if not for each other, and their work ethic -- in all their years they missed only one concert for band misbehavior and Johnny fired Marky over it.

You watch End of the Century wondering how someone as sensitive as Joey ever lived at all, expecting DeeDee to have his overdose on screen in the middle of an interview, respecting Johnny's vision, even if often disagreeing with his methods. And now they are all dead, making even more poignant that moment late in the movie when the off-screen interviewer asks, after Joey's death, Johnny if he felt something when Joey died. Pause. And Johnny says, yes, he felt something, he felt bad all the week of Joey's death, even after not calling him while he was dying, not speaking for nearly two decades. Why, probes the interviewer, why did you feel something? Another pause, and then Johnny says because he was a Ramone, because he loved the Ramones, the group, the music. Moving stuff, moving and entertaining movie.

P.S. Don't miss the swell moment when Debby Harry and Blondie are singing Heart of Glass in what looks like some bubble-machine disco set. Very weird.

I just want to point out something that I think some Ramones fans might be missing; and that is; this is a moving film about a dysfunctional rock and roll family who were stuck with each other for over 20 years in spite of the fact that they wanted to escape each other. They weren't like other bands who travelled first class and could escape to private quarters on luxury buses either. They travelled well into their 40s in small rental vans so they were really in each other's faces.

And that's the point. It's not "depressing" or "short on concert footage" per se. I don't think that is the point at all. It's a documentary film that strips away all the rock illusions of glamour and fame that fans might WISH was the truth but it just ain't. This is what it's really like to be a punk rocker...for life. It ain't pretty and if you can't take it then you probably don't really understand what the Ramones and everyone like them were really about in the first place.

So, as a film fan, I loved it. It was touching and funny and poignant. So I say to ramones fans looking for confirmation of something that never truly existed, open your mind and try to accept what this excellent film is trying to tell you; the real life of our rock heros is not the wonderful, glamorous dream we, as fans, get lost in. This is what it is.

The Ramones' music sounds eternal to me. It is raw power, "white heat," as Joe Strummer describes it during this excellent documentary. This release takes on added meaning after the passing of two Ramones, but it's more than just the story of one particular legendary band. It's about the early days of American punk, the CBGB's scene of the late '70s, and even the essence of rock n roll itself. Thru it all is the mighty music of a band that stands as an icon for the last century and will do so into the future. Besides all of that high falutin' stuff, though, End of the Century is just a fascinating documentary to watch. I got totally engrossed in the origins of the group, their rise to glory, the various in-fighting and love-hate relationships within the band, etc. The extras with the DVD are pretty good too, although a little more care could have gone into their presentation. For example, the short feature on "Who wrote what" with Tommy Ramone is fun, but an off-camera interviewer names the songs in a barely audible voice while Tommy says who wrote them. How hard would it have been to run the song titles on the screen as Tommy named the writers for each of them? Instead it's nearly impossible to hear some of the titles as the interviewer softly calls them out.

The Ramones are, like so many artists that alter the course of creative history, recognized long after their due. "End Of The Century" chronicles the band without airbrushing the blemishes. Frequently funny, sometimes sad and even myth destroying, footage of the band through the years and up to the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame establishes the Ramones and their timeline. Watching it, you wonder how they ever toughed it out for over twenty years. At the same time, you're eternally grateful that they did, even though you get to watch Johnny dismiss "Mondo Bizarro" and Phil Spector.

There is plenty of other activity on the screen. Joe Strummer and Debbie Harry are prominent on the interviews, and vintage shots of live Iggy and the New York Dolls are interspersed with the Ramones' interviews and songs. The anecdotal quips from Legs McNeill and others provide invaluable insider looks into the history of Ramones. If you have a passing interest in Punk Rock, or any rock, try to see this.

My first exposure to the Ramones was when I saw "Rock 'N' Roll High School" in the theatre around 1981. I was fortunate to have seen them live on three occasions in the eighties. The operative word for a Ramones concert was FUN. I saw "End of the Century" in the theatre last fall in full expectation of recapturing the joy of attending a Ramones show. What I got was the equivalent of getting hit with a wet towel. Who knew that the band who could give such highly professional entertainment harbored disillusionment and resentment? Since recovering from the initial jolt I can view this DVD for what it is. It is a thorough examination of the band's history, their influences, their artistry, and ultimately their place in the rock 'n' roll pantheon. It is also an interesting study of the personality types of the individual band members and how that fueled their creativity. Highly recommended for those who unfortunately never got to experience one of the greatest rock acts. This DVD contains some deleted scenes that should not be missed. They were not incorporated in the finished product probably for continuity reasons but are nonetheless fascinating.

That as soon as the 21st century hit, 3 of the core members would pass away from 2001-2004.

Joey and Dee Dee had died before or during the time the film was put together, and Johnny stuck around long enough for the 30th anniversary tribute and for this film to be completed.

Thankfully, they were able to capture them in a combination of interviews past and present to put together a film that put in as much as possible, yet left so much out, something that Ramones fans would say about their setlist...come to think of it, they've played shows shorter than this film!

This is recommended for hardcore Ramones fans as well as people who want to learn what the band was about, and peels the layers on who did what in the band. True to "punk ethics", it pulls no punches, everything seems to be out there in the open. Probably the most shocking thing is that they loved the Bay City Rollers.

Blondie represented the CBGB crew, Glen Matlock and Joe Strummer talk about how their music impacted England.

Their original drummer/producer/manager Tommy offers a lot of insight to where they grew up (should be a historic landmark in Forest Hills!), other friends from the neighborhood, the music that influenced them, and what made them Ramones, and the various conflicts that threatened to break them up,worst of which was a love triangle between Johnny and Joey over a woman. You'll never hear "The KKK Took My Baby Away" the same.

Phil Spector does get more than a short mention, they go into detail about the recording of "End of the Century". Put it this way, it doesn't help his case with Lana Clarkson...

There's also the bitterness over why overseas they're treated like gods yet have to fight to play a club in the US, and in the 90s, why they still got no respect as a rock band while the Nirvanas and Pearl Jams eclipsed them. They kind of gloss over what happened in the 80s and 90s, although they do show Joey going into the hospital before he was in bad shape (Dee Dee already looked like he was on his way there..).

I do wish they had interviewed Howard Stern who was a longtime friend of the band (who had no shortage of drunk Joey recordings), and was responsible for getting Johnny and Joey on speaking terms after leaving off on bitter terms in 96. The last time they had been together was for a CD signing of their anthology at Tower, something that would have been nice for this film. I don't remember seeing the Simpsons footage there, either...

The extras are okay.

The past couple of years has been good to Ramones fans though: Bizarre Tales which is a CD/DVD box set that includes the promo videos, and the "Raw"and "Rock and Roll High School" DVDs.

My recommendations to purchase with this film:
Prereq: all the Ramones CDs, or the 2 CD anthology to cover the bases.
The Filth and the Fury, Westway to the World, and Punk/Attitude.
Books: "On The Road with The Ramones" by their former road manager and Dee Dee's 3 paperbacks "Labotomy: Surviving the Ramones", "Chelsea Horror Hotel", and "Poison Heart". Jim Bessman's "American Band" is also a decent overview of the band, and Legs Mc Neil's "Please Kill Me" is required reading for "punk rock snob 101".. in that case also pick up on CD the "Nuggets" box set, Love's "Forever Changes", Phil Spector's "Back to Mono", and Suicide's debut, Television's "Marquee Moon", and everything (pre-reunion although the reunion stuff's not bad) by MC5, The Stooges, and the New York Dolls.

I enjoyed the DVD. I have enjoyed The Ramones since the late seventies. A number of the people at work are into "Punk", they are under the impression that everything starts with the Sex Pistols. Ha! The uninformed masses.

If you know or think you know about the development of Punk, and its roots, watch this. It will change your mind, re-conceptualize you and orient you to the revolution and what it was about. It was not about the Vietnam generation, come of age in the seventies, it was about that next wave, that wasn't about Disco balls, and shiny-happy TV. It was about being who you were, really. Real is a word that is tossed around in marketing. The Ramones were real.

that such an important band was so far away from success for the majority (or all, depending on your point of view) of their career. How they could keep getting into that van day after day, year after year, feeling the way they did about one another, defies rational explanation. They were SO GREAT, yet were IGNORED FOR SO LONG, that only in (or almost in) death did they receive even a fraction of the accolades they deserved. As far as this DVD, it's not a lot of music really, but a sad, truthful look at one of the greatest rock and roll bands ever. I found it mesmerizing, and depressing. They influenced so many people in so many ways, yet hated each other for so many years. And, as another reviewer notes, even in their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acceptance speeches, only the drummers thanked or mentioned any of the other members, even though Joey was already dead, and Dee Dee and Johnny would follow soon after. And Johnny's mention of Bush was ill-timed and ill-placed, though not a surprise once you've seen this DVD. Another reviewer mentioned having trouble hearing who wrote which songs on the first 3 albums (one of the special features). I didn't have any problems hearing this, so as long as you have decent sound on your TV, you've got nothing to worry about. I highly recommend this DVD, but not for the music, as there are only snippets. Buy this for an inside look at how the band got started, and the very volatile relationships they had with one another. Either way, the Ramones still stand as one of the most important bands in the history of music, from any genre, and of any time period.

There are two kinds of geniuses: those who forge their intelligence through hard work and those who have a frighteningly precocious intuition. The Ramones had the latter. Somehow they managed adapt such gimmicks as replacing their last names with "Ramone" and all adopting a faux-fifties look and still seem one-hundred percent genuine. How a bunch of glue sniffers from Queens managed to create retro, yet revolutionary, American music is anybody's guess. End of the Century never broaches the question of inspiration (although they do tell the stories behind several of their songs), and instead focuses on the drama of interband turmoil. As Dee Dee Ramone says, echoing ACDC, "it's not easy being in a rock and roll band."

The interesting thing about The Ramones is that their music managed to be both retro and forward thinking. Tommy Ramone described their music as "futuristic." If you look at any of the retro sounding bands out there, from the 80's revival to the well renowned Shins, virtually none of them are able to move rock music forward. In fact, the best of them sound as if they're a really good band from a couple decades ago. You can make some great music working within older genres, but only geniuses are able to reshape old songs into a completely new genre. The Ramones were somehow able to make music that drew from the past, but updated it so you felt the same energy kids in the 1950's must have felt when they first heard Buddy Holly on the Jukebox. The secret of The Ramones is that using the old blueprint just isn't enough; you have to update the music in a way that speaks to an audience twenty-years later.

Like all famous rock bands since The Beatles, each member of The Ramones had a distinct niche: Joey was the innocent one; Tommy business minded and a bit too adult for the band (probably why he left early on); Dee Dee a jester and a thug; and Johnny...well, Johnny was a jerk. One of the centerpieces of the Ramones story is the feud between Joey and Johnny. As The Ramones were starting out Joey was the hopeless romantic responsible for most of The Ramones' love songs. He was also fighting an almost terminal case of shyness. It was around this time that Johnny stole his girlfriend from him. Joey held a grudge against Johnny for the rest of their career. The liberal Joey even wrote "The KKK Took My Baby Away" attacking the creepily conservative Johnny (at the rock and roll hall of fame induction Johnny thanks George W. Bush).

If you're looking for a pick me up End of the Century is not it. Johnny, Dee Dee, and Joey all passed away in the last few years. Despite twenty years of hard work The Ramones were unable to become as successful in America as they had hoped, and looked forlornely across the Atlantic as punk exploded in England.

The shy, OCD, and often physically sick Joey is really the heart of the story. Before The Ramones, Joey was withdrawn and barely able to handle his obsessive compulsive disorder. He even checked himself into a hospital in hopes of stopping voices that made him repeat words. When he become the frontman for The Ramones he was able to build the confidence needed to rejoin the world. Joey even manages to stand up to the domineering Johnny. The story of the introvert who becomes an inspiration to millions is an unlikely testament to the power of music. What would Joey's life have been like had he never been a Ramone? Would he have returned to the hospital? While End of the Century puts down that pesky rumor about how easy rock and roll is, I have a feeling the music gave Joey a life he couldn't have lived otherwise. He was also generous enough to share that music with the rest of the world. What would the world be like without the music of The Ramones? I don't know about you, but my life would be a lot more boring.

In 1995 or so a group of friends and I decided that we wanted to form a band. Being the mid 1990s and all we were all into pop-punk bands such as Green Day, The Offspring, Rancid, etc and we strove at first to play music like these groups, however, being that only one of us could marginally play his instrument, we mainly turned up our amps as high as they would go and made as much noise as we possibly could. I was the bassist for the group, at the time I really had no great desire to play the bass but I was the last member of the group to choose an instrument, so I began to pay attention to various bass players' styles, including Mike Dirnt of Green Day, Matt Freeman of Rancid and Operation Ivy, Michael McKeegan of my favorite band Therapy?, and various other bass players. It was around that time that I heard The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" for the first time. Entranced with the song, I went out that very day and bought one of The Ramones greatest hits albums and listened to blistering fast bass licks of Dee Dee Ramone. It was an amazing experience and although my personal bass playing style would follow the slower pace of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Stu Cook, The Ramones quickly became one of my favorite bands and I have constantly listened to their music for over the last decade.

The early years of the twenty-first century were hard times for Ramones fans. In 2001 Joey Ramone died after a long battle with lymphoma, In 2002 Dee Dee Ramone died from a heroin overdose, and in 2004 Johnny Ramone died from prostate cancer, leaving drummer Tommy Ramone as the only surviving original member. It might seem very cliché to write this, but The Ramones's musical influence is so permeated through rock, especially punk rock, music today that their legacy will definitely live on for decades to come.

Although I have been a fan of The Ramones for many years, I knew little about the history of the band, so, with that in mind, I was glad to come by this documentary at my local independent movie rental shop. Like most documentaries, this one begins with the early days of The Ramones when they all attended the same high school. At the time, rock music in the United States was pretty dead and most of the music released was by marketed pop groups. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy, considered to be "freaks" by their classmates, especially the 6' 8" socially awkward Joey, had no outlet for their frustrations. However, the New York Dolls soon came to the scene and revived rock music in New York. The four guys, one cannot say friends Joey and Johnny were never friends and Johnny had an open dislike for the bands singer throughout the band's twenty plus years, formed their own group and created a style of music that would consist of a rapid barrage of two minute songs that would be the polar opposite of such groups as Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, etc.

The documentary is quite strong giving a history of the Ramones during their early years, especially the 1970s and their involvement with CBGB's and their influence on the London punk rock scene, however, the second half of the film delves much more into the band's personal relationships with each other than the actual music that they created and several albums are not even mentioned. The documentary is good overall though and it is definitely a recommend watch for fans of the Ramones.